8 Month Update at New Duty Station

Hello! So it’s been a little over 8 months since I’ve moved to my husband’s duty station last May and I thought I would give a “New Duty Station Update”. Technically it’s only new for me. Like I’ve mentioned before, my husband had already been stationed here for about a year, then he deployed for 9 months, THEN I finally moved to Fort Hood Texas to join my husband. I’m from the west coast, so moving to Texas was quite a change for me. Now, I might be kind of biased since this is our first duty station and I’ve never really lived anywhere else besides my hometown. Also, this will be more of a review of the Central Texas area as a whole rather than just the military base since I don’t live on base and haven’t been here long enough to speak fully on that.

Let’s start with the pros:

The weather is nice here. I mean, come on, it’s the middle of winter here and the temperature outside is in its mid 70’s. I can’t complain! It’s not cold enough for the heater and not yet hot enough for A/C, which calls for a lower electric bill –another reason why I can’t complain!

The sunsets are beautiful here. The land is so flat here that basically every night you have an amazing view of the sunset. It makes for a relaxing view at the end of a long day.

The housing market here is cheap. If you’re looking to buy a house, Texas is really where it’s at. As long as you don’t mind living here, of course. I don’t own a house here, but it’s good to know that you have that option. Depending on how long you’re going to be stationed here. Buying a house might be the route to go – and I’ve heard that some people get stuck here for quite a while.

There are lots of restaurant options. If you’re a foodie or you just like trying new foods, no need to worry. There are a lot of different places to eat around here. Also, they have chain restaurants that are not in Washington such as Freddy’s, In-N-Out Burger, Cracker Barrel, Texas Roadhouse and Whataburger (which I still have yet to try!). Pretty much the only thing to do in the Killeen area is go out to eat. If you go into the nearby cities such as Austin, Dallas or San Antonio there are lots of great places to eat and things to do!

SeaWorld! If you drive about 2 hours south of Fort Hood, you’ll be in San Antonio where SeaWorld is located. Military veterans and their dependents can get one free admission a year to SeaWorld. You have to check it out at least once and be prepared to get soaked. Hubby and I went last summer and I would like to go again. There is also a Six Flags located around here which I have yet to go.

Now here are the cons:

There is not much to do in the Killeen area. Like I said before, pretty much the only thing to do in the Killeen area is go out to eat, otherwise you’ll have to drive to nearby cities such as Austin, San Antonio or Dallas.

BUGS! Okay, when I first got here with my husband, we actually tried living on base for a little while but it turned out the only house that was available to use was infested with cockroaches-gross, I know! I’ve seen cockroaches before but the ones here are HUGE! We were out of there really quick. Not only that, I guess they have a “cricket season” around here and we definitely experienced it. The worst part was over in about a week or so, but it was bad. I’m talking, maybe hundreds of crickets just swarming all over your front door. Somehow they would die the next day and my husband ended up having to sweep up a pile of dead crickets off our back porch.

The summers our HOT. It might just be me and that I’m not used to it, but the summers here are just way too hot! It’s okay if you’re not planning to do much outdoors because air conditioning is a staple here in Texas. But if you’re planning to do an outdoor activity, bring lots of water, sunscreen and maybe some extra clothes because you’ll be drenched in sweat by the end of the day.

I actually thought I would actually have more “cons” listed but when I sat down and really thought about it, I couldn’t pinpoint a specific reason why I didn’t like it here other than “it’s not home”. That’s normal. Just remember, every area has something great to offer. Focus on those things and you’ll be okay.